I once heard a story about a man who tastes beer for a living. He hires out his taste buds to breweries and does batch tasting. He had twenty years’ experience tasting beer professionally. He could tell if the batch had a fungus/mold problem and what that problem might be. In that way, he was able to advise the brewer how to correct the problem.

I’ve recently gotten a taste of this man’s profession.

As I have eliminated sugar and grains and avoided my cornucopia of other food-forbiddens, I’ve noticed that my palate is clean. I can taste things I’ve never tasted before. I don’t think I’ve ever been a supertaster, but I’m getting an understanding of how well, painful, it could actually be.

For example, we went to dinner the other night and everything tasted like it was coated in sugar. I had my “dining companion” (one of my favorite restaurant review terms) taste my various dishes and he confirmed that it was me who was nuts, not the cook.

On the plus side, certain foods have become incredibly delicious. Things like strawberries are so sweet I can hardly stand them and even something like Bengal Spice tea has an almost tart-acrid bitter-sweetness to it. Fresh-ground peanut butter is heavenly.

I’ve also noticed that in tasting all these new tastes, I’m slowing down as I eat. I’m savoring more. I’m really tasting and enjoying. When I get down about my food situation, it would serve me well to remember this silver lining.

People always say they’d like to be a chocolate or ice cream taster, but now I’m not so sure. I would think that being a professional taster is actually a lot of work. I imagine pro tasters have to keep their palates clean and be somewhat careful about what passes along their tongues…definitely not something I’m interested in.

Get New Posts by Email

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

About

Diagnosed with celiac disease (dermatitis herpetiformis) in 2004, I've been gluten-free since then. Because the GF diet hasn't seemed to work for me, I'm trying the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. No grains, no sugar, no potatoes, and limited dairy. Here's what I do eat.
If you're looking for my fiction and freelance writing, it's over here.
Name: Melanie Jennings
Location: Portland, OR, USA